A Thousand Paper Cranes
by TheNobodyofNamine
Summary: The last reincarnations of Ryuya and Kanna. Yukito and Misuzu were supposed to be the last unhappy reincarnations. But because of a break in the chain, another boy and girl must suffer. Rated T for safety. A FANFIC FOR THE ANIME. Full summary coming soon.
1. The Girl From the Beach

Chapter 1

15-year-old Ryuu laid down in the sandy beach at the edge of town, thinking about what his late older sister had told him over and over again.

_Flashback_

_Ryuu and his older sister are at the beach when his older sister tells him a story of the girl in the sky._

"_One day, you'll meet a girl who'll always want to be with you, no matter the circumstances. She's afraid and very lonely. What's she's afraid of, I can't say really. But what I will tell you is that you're the only one who can save her from her worst nightmare. All you have to do is say three magic words to her."_

_Ryuu had a puzzled expression on his face._

"_What are the three words? C'mon and tell me already."_

_His older sister smiled and said, "That's something for you to find out when you're older Ryuu. I can't tell you because it's something you won't understand."_

"_Aw…please. If I'm the one who has to save her, then tell me. Otherwise she'll always be alone."_

"_Don't worry Ryuu. Everything will turn out alright for the two of you. All you have to do right now is believe that you can save her when the time comes, okay?"_

"_Of course I will! It's my job, right? Are you sure I'm the only one who can save her from her nightmares?"_

"_Yes. You are and that will never change. Just promise me that'll once you find her, you'll protect her for as long as you can."_

"_I promise. I'll do my very best to make you proud of me Nadeshiko. I'll never forget the story and I'll do my best to protect her!"_

Just as Ryuu was about to remember something else his sister told him, a sound of a crash interrupted his thoughts.

"What the hell-huh? It's a girl."

There she was, a girl with short brown hair on the ground next to a blue bicycle. She got up slowly and dusted herself off. "Hey! You over there!" Ryuu called out. The girl quickly looked at him Ryuu could tell that her face was red from embarrassment. "Are you okay? Do you need some help?" The girl nodded her head. Ryuu got up from his spot and ran over to where she was. "Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need to see a doctor?" Ryuu asked. The girl shook her head. Ryuu then noticed that there was a bunch of drawings scattered around them. Ryuu bent down and picked one of them up.

"Did you draw these?"

The girl nodded again. "Here. I think these are all of them." Ryuu said as he gave her the collected papers. "These are really good. You have a lot of talent." The girl bowed her head. "You don't talk much, do you?" The girl looked down, as if she was ashamed. "Oh, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." She quickly looked up and shook her head. Then, she grabbed a nearby stick and wrote in the sand. As she wrote each word, Ryuu said them aloud.

"Hello…My…name…is…Momosé… Sorano…and…I…am…unable…to…talk at the moment."

Momosé got up from the ground and dusted herself off. Ryuu smiled and held out his hand. "Hello, Momosé-chan. My name is Ryuu Miyazaki. It's nice to meet you." It was easy to see that Momosé was reluctant, but she took Ryuu's hand and smiled. "By the way, do you know a motel I could stay at?" Momosé shook her head. Ryuu sighed. Momosé had an excited look on her face as she tugged on Ryuu's arm. "What is it?" he asked. Momsé started to write more on the sand.

"If…you…want…you…can…stay…at…my…place."

"Really!? Are you sure that's going to be alright with your parents?" Ryuu asked. Momosé nodded excitedly. "Okay then. It looks like I'll be staying with you for a couple of days." Momosé smiled. Then, she got her bike, and patted her hand on the rack. "No, it's okay. I can just walk next to you." Ryuu said. "Besides, it's hard to ride a bike on the beach, right?" Momosé chuckled nervously and nodded at him. Ryuu gave her a skeptical look as they started to walk. "You're really strange, you know that. I mean you said you can't talk, but you can laugh." The girl chuckled nervously again. "See!" Ryuu said as he pointed at her. "That's what I mean!"

"Hey Momosé-chan!"

Ryuu and Momosé turned around. By the way Momosé looked, Ryuu could tell that she felt really uneasy.

"So how are you doing these days? I haven't seen you in summer school lately."

Momosé gulped nervously and smiled. The boy had jet black hair and dark blue eyes. The closer he walked towards them, the more uneasy Momosé looked. "So Momosé-chan, who's that guy? Is he your boyfriend? Because if he is, I'm going to do something about him. After all, you're mine." Momosé shivered. "Hey Mr. Blue Eyes! You have no right to call a person 'yours.'" The raven haired boy scoffed. "I have a name. It's Satoshi Shirokawa. And for your information, Momosé and I were promised to each other the day we were born. So technically, she's mine."

"Momosé-chan, is this true?"

Momosé nodded.

"Well, who are you to question me?" Satoshi asked. "My name is Ryuu Miyazaki, and I going to live with Momosé-chan for the next couple of days." Ryuu said proudly while taking Momosé's hand. Momosé looked at him with her blushed cheeks. _'All I need to do is make this guy go away.' _Ryuu thought. "Heh. Whatever. Momosé-chan and I are getting married later on anyway."

Satoshi walked away and said, "We're going to meet again soon, Ryuu Miyazaki-san. Good-bye."

"That guy gives me the creeps." Ryuu shuddered. "Well it's good that he's gone, right Momosé-chan?" Momosé nodded and smiled. "Now, let's go, okay?"

The two continued to walk along the beach until they climbed up the cement stairs of the sea wall. When they got to the top, Momosé tugged on Ryuu's arm. "Hm? What is it?" Ryuu asked. Momosé pointed at what appeared to be a small stand with a sign that said, 'Our town's favorite treats.' "So you want to get something from there?" Momosé nodded.

They walked up to the stand. "Momosé-chan! It's good to see Momosé-chan outside today." said the stand owner. "Would Momosé-chan like to have the red bean mochi again?" Momosé smiled and nodded. "Here, nice and cool just the way you like it." the owner gave Momosé a large bag. "Yurika put a lot in to last Momosé-chan a while, since you don't seem to come by here as often as Momosé-chan used to." The owner looked at Ryuu. "And what would you like?"

"It looks like I'm out of luck today since I don't have any money." Ryuu said with an embarrassed look on his face. Momosé tugged on him again. "What is it?" he asked. She then pulled out a blue wallet. "You're trying to tell me that you're going to pay everything?" She nodded. "Okay. If you're so sure, I'll get the banana popsicle." The owner reached into a small cooler and pulled out a popsicle. "Here. Now, is there anything else?" she asked. Momosé pointed at two juice boxes. "Okay. How many does Momosé-chan want?" Momosé held out two fingers.

"Is that all for today?"

Momosé nodded and handed over the money she owed. "Here's Momosé-chan's drinks and Momosé-chan change. Have a nice day!" Momosé put everything they ordered into the basket of her bicycle. As they walked into the distance, Momosé waved the stand owner. She then turned around after they walked a block away from the stand. "If I ever get any money, I'll pay you back." said Ryuu. Momosé shook her head and reached into her basket to give Ryuu and herself the drinks she bought for them. "Really? I can have this?" Ryuu asked. Momosé bopped him on his forehead as if she was trying to say, "Stop asking questions and take it." He took the small box and read it to see what it was. "Strawberry milk? It's strange, but it actually sounds pretty good."

Momosé stopped to put the straw into the box and Ryuu did the same. "Well, bottoms up!" Ryuu said as he bravely took a sip because even though he said it sounded good, he was still afraid to drink it. Momosé gave him a 'how did you like it?' look. "I was right. This is really delicious!" Ryuu said with amazement.

Momosé smiled an started to walk up to the house next to him. "So we're finally here." Ryuu said. Momosé opened the front gate with a silver key and used body language to tell Ryuu to come inside with her. She left her bike in the front and Ryuu followed her inside. As they walked into the house, they heard a male voice say, "Momosé, is that you?" Momosé answered by going back outside and ringing the bell on her bike.

Footstep approached Ryuu at the front (where they put their shoes). The door opened. "Momosé, it's about time you got-who are you?" It was an older boy with the same grey eyes as Momosé and a slightly darker shade of brown color for his hair. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house!? I demand an answer!" Momosé opened the door. "Momosé, get in the house now!" the older boy instructed. "I'll take care of this creep." The older boy was just about to punch Ryuu in the face but Momosé caught his fist before it reached his face.

"Momosé, what are you doing? I have to protect you from this guy!" the older boy said. Momosé shook her head. Finally, the boy stopped fighting against the force of Momosé's hand. "Fine, you win this time." Momosé only smiled. "You can come in, stranger. It seems as though my sister trusts you, and I trust her."

_30 minutes later…_

"So let me get this straight. You're Ryuu Miyazaki and you come from a large city and now, you want to live in the country?" Momosé's brother asked. Ryuu only nodded. "And the only real reason you want to live in the country is because there's someone important you're looking for?"

"Yeah. That's sounds right. Ryuu said. Then, Momosé's older brother turned to her. "And you, you said it was okay for him to stay at our place without asking me first?" Momosé giggled nervously. Her older brother whacked her on the head. "Geez, you can be a handful. Well, I guess there's no choice but for me to give into my sister's wishes."

He turned to Ryuu and said, "You can stay here as long as you follow these rules: one, you don't lay a hand on my sister in a way that will make want to kill you; two, you do some house work around here; three, you take Momosé to school and walk her home when and if I go to work early; four, you help her with homework when she needs help; and five, even though your still young, you drink with me every night. Got it?"

"I think I can remember all of that." Ryuu said. "Good." He turned to his sister. "It's starting to get dark. Go to sleep now." Momosé nodded and went into her room.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! How silly of me. My name is Kuya Sorano."

Kuya went into a small cooler near the doorway of the kitchen and took out a large bottle of saké. He came back, sat down, and took out two small glasses from under a drinking table. "Well, sit down and have a drink with me." Kuya said.

Ryuu sat down cross-legged and accepted a glass full of saké. "Is it true that there isn't a motel or anything in this town?" Ryuu asked. "I'm pretty sure." Kuya answered. "This place is too quiet for any tourists to come here." Kuya took a sip of saké. "What I said about looking after my sister, will you actually do it?" Kuya asked. "Sure. Why not?"

"Well, you're in for a long story." Kyua took another sip.

"When Momosé was still small, we both lost our parents in a really bad car accident. After that day, Momosé wouldn't laugh, smile or talk as much than she usually would. Then finally, she just stopped talking. God, I miss the sound of her voice. Her laughter always filled this house. But what's really bad about it is that Momosé is so sad because she always blamed herself for our parent's death. She always said it was her fault because it was rainy, but she begged them to buy her something that she wanted very badly. For some reason, though, she's starting to laugh again and I don't know why."

Kuya stopped to take a sip of saké.

"I have a question for you." Ryuu said.

"Ask away." Kuya responded.

"On the way here, we met up with this guy who went by the name Satoshi Shirokawa."

"So you met that stupid brat. I keep telling him that the promise between his family and our family has been terminated since our parents are gone and that I never agreed to it. He bothered you about that, right?"

Ryuu nodded and finally took a sip of the slightly chilled saké.

"Yeah. He made a big fuss over it, too."

"Hey, I know we've just met and everything, but I want you to promise me something."

"What is it?"

"Promise to be a friend to Momosé. She really needs one right now. She believes strongly that she's going to die because she supposedly killed our parents. So please, help her learn to laugh again."

"If it helps me able to stay here, I might as well do what you say."

Kuya looked out the window. "It strange."

Ryuu gave off a confused vibe. "What's strange?" he asked.

"Uh…it's nothing." Kuya filled his glass with more saké.

"Just help out Momosé whenever you can. She needs a friend and I think she's taking a liking to you."

The silver moon finally rose and the stars filled the sky like diamonds.

"If you want, you can sleep here in the living room. There's a futon and a blanket over there in the corner. Go to sleep when you want to."

And that's exactly what Ryuu did.


	2. A Rough Morning

TheNobodyofNamine: Hi guys! Here it is, Chapter 2.

**I DON'T OWN AIR KEY/VISUAL ARTS DOES**

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Chapter 2

_Ryuu's Dream_

_It was a warm summer. The sun was about to set when Nadeshiko picked up her sack and headed for the door. _

"_Nadeshiko, wait! Where are you going?"_

"_There's something important I need to do right now Ryuu."_

"_When are you coming back?"_

_Nadeshiko went down on her knees to hug her crying brother. _

"_Don't cry Ryuu. I'll be back as soon as possible."_

_Nadeshiko reached into her pocket and pulled out two small stuffed teddy bear with wings on the back. _

"_Whenever you want to see me, just hug this doll. You see, these dolls have magic in them. If you hug this doll, then my doll will tell me right away and I'll do my best to come back, okay?"_

_Ryuu smiled. "Don't worry. I'll hug it everyday."_

"_First, you need a name."_

"_I got it! Its name will be-"_

_CRASH!_

It was morning when Ryuu woke up to a loud sound. At first, he thought he was dreaming, that is until he heard another crash. Ryuu quickly threw off the blanket and got up from the blue futon. His green eyes scanned the room. He then noticed that Momosé's bedroom door was slightly open.

"Momosé-chan?" He called. There was only silence.

"Momosé-chan, are you alright?" he asked again.

Ryuu ran to Momosé's room and only found paper cranes that filled almost every inch of her bed. "Momosé-chan! Where are you?" he called again. He heard a nervous giggle from the kitchen adjacent to the living room. He turned around and saw Momosé on the floor in a puddle of water behind her. "Geez, you can be such a klutz." Ryuu complained. Momosé gave a nervous giggle. Ryuu looked at the table in the kitchen. On it was what looked like the most delicious breakfast ever. "Did you make all of this by yourself?" Momosé nodded and smiled. "So what are we waiting for? Let's go and eat."

After they finished breakfast, Ryuu noticed Momosé's uniform. "So, how far away is your school exactly? Just hold up how many blocks we have to walk with your fingers." Momosé did as Ryuu said and formed her fingers to show the number four. "Oh God, are you serious?" Momosé nodded. "Okay. There's another question I need to ask you." Ryuu said. "Hold up your right hand if the blocks are short and hold up your left hand if the blocks are long." Momosé did as directed and held up her right hand.

'_What did I get myself into?" _Ryuu thought. "Okay. Are you ready? Do you have everything?" Ryuu asked. Momosé nodded. "Then let's go."

The weather was scorching hot. The summer sun blazed over head and hovered in the ocean painted sky. The clouds were riding on the winds, as if that was their only destiny. The leaves kept falling, even though it was far from autumn.

"So you're not going to ride your bike today?" Ryuu asked. Momosé shook her head. "Okay then. Just don't expect me to carry you half way."

After walking for about ten minutes in silence, Ryuu decided to try to understand Momosé. After all, he wanted to live in a real "house". "So, Momosé-chan," Ryuu started, "Kuya-san told me about Shirokawa-san. I know that it's none of my business, but the next time I see that punk, I'll knock him out. Of course, only if it's okay with you." Momosé only smiled. Silence took over again, so Ryuu tried to get Momosé to talk. "The sky is so cool, don't you think?" Ryuu asked. Momosé nodded in agreement. "There's a story I'd like to tell to tell you. Do you want to hear it?" Momosé nodded. "My sister told me this story." Ryuu started as they continued to walk.

"A long time ago, there were this race known as 'winged beings.' Basically, people with pure white wings. One day, a winged being known as Kanna kept moving to different temples for protection. But all Kanna wanted was to be free, to find her mother whom she was separated from birth, and to be in the sky. So Kanna, Sir Ryuuya her protector, and Uraha her trusted friend escaped the temple and set out to find her mother. But it wasn't easy. They were being pursued by people trying to bring back Kanna to the temple. Eventually, they found Kanna's mother in a prison. Shortly after finding her, however, Kanna's mother dies from an arrow shot from a guard from the temple. After finally being caught, Kanna tries fly up into the sky. But she was not meant to be free, so one of the guards shot an arrow that pierced Kanna's heart. The moment she was struck by the arrow, Kanna's body disappeared and there were feathers that fell from the sky. Eventually, guards from another temple approached Ryuuya and Uraha, asking if they had any relations to Kanna. Then the guard leads them to a temple, where the head temple priest tells them the history of the winged beings. He says that, 'winged beings inherit the dreams of the world.' Kanna keeps reincarnating until her spirit can find happiness. But she isn't the only one who still feels the pain. Sir Ryuuya's soul also reincarnates because he was Kanna's first love. But whoever holds Kanna's soul is fated to die young because her soul was filled with sadness since she was cursed before she died. Kanna's soul even carries the curses she inherited from her mother before she passed away. Everyone her on earth has met the reincarnation of Kanna once, but they just never knew it, so she dies. Only once did someone try to save her, since he was a direct family member of Ryuuya. But in the end, Kanna's spirit died and now, she's somewhere waiting for the soul of Sir Ryuuya to save her from the shackles that bind her to her loneliness."

Ryuu finally stops talking. "So what do you think? Do you like it?" He asked Momosé. Momosé nodded in delight. "Well, I'm glad you like it." Ryuu said. "That story isn't very well known, and I wonder how my older sister knew it."

The ocean waves were rocking against the sandy, unattended beach while the breeze was caressing their faces. All of a sudden, a group of large buildings appeared on the horizon. _'This is it?' _Ryuu thought, '_Well, that was fast.' _Momosé ran a couple of steps ahead and stopped. "Are you sure you don't want me to go in front of the school with you?" Ryuu asked. Momosé shook her head, trying to say, "It's okay. You can go back now." Ryuu gave her a skeptical look. "Okay, if you're sure. See you later, okay? We're going to meet her at this spot, got it?" Momosé gave him a thumbs-up and went off to the school. "I can't believe I got myself into all of this." Ryuu said quietly. Ryuu started to walk back, thinking about his sister. _'She never did came back.'_ Ryuu thought. "I wonder what happened to her." he said to himself.

"What happened to who?"

Ryuu turned around. It was the lady who owned the snack stand, and she had a lot of bags filled with strawberry milk, red bean mochi, and banana popsicles.

"Nothing." Ryuu said. "It's not nothing." The lady smiled at him. "Then it's something." she said. Ryuu stared at her. "What? I told you, it's not nothing." The lady started to laugh. "If it's 'not nothing,' that means it's something because 'not nothing' is the opposite of 'nothing,' making it something." Ryuu face turned red. "Well, you learn something everyday." he said to hide the fact that he was embarrassed.

"Say, do you think you can help Yurika carry these to my snack stand?" she asked.

"Why not? I've got nothing else to do today." Ryuu took some of the bags that were literally hanging off of her arms. As they started to head down to the snack stand, Ryuu asked, "By the way, Yurika's your name, right? My name is Ryuu Miyazaki." The girl's face turned red. "Yurika's sorry! Yurika's name is Hoshino Yurika. It's nice to meet you Miyazaki-kun." Ryuu stared at her. "Miyazaki-kun? How old are you?" he asked. "Why, does Yurika look older than Miyazaki-kun?" Yurika asked back. "I don't want to sound rude," Ryuu started, "but yeah, you look older."

They continued to walk when Yurika said, "Yurika guesses it's because I'm so independent. To tell the truth, Yurika's Momosé-chan's age." Ryuu was shocked. "I have another question." Ryuu said. "What does Miyazaki-kun want to know?" Yurika asked. "That's just it. Why do you talk in third person?" Yurika stayed silent for a while before she said, "It's a long story." "That's okay." Ryuu said. "I have a couple of hours before I have to pick up Momosé-chan." Yurika pointed to her snack stand. "First, let's get this into the cooler." she said as she walked over to the stand. Underneath the table was a medium sized cooler filled with a lot of ice. "Here, put everything in here." Ryuu did as directed as Yurika got two folded chairs.

"Alright. It started when Yurika was five years old. Yurika was in Kindergarten, and Yurika was very lonely. But one day, a boy named Hiro Watanabe made Yurika happy by just being at Yurika's side. Hiro-kun was Yurika's best friend. Then, Hiro-kun decided that he would take Yurika to the river near our school. Yurika took off her bracelet, and it fell into the river. Hiro-kun tried to get bracelet back, but he ended up drowning. Yurika feels so horrible because she feels that it was all her fault. Now, Yurika talks in third person because she's trying to see the world through Hiro-kun's eyes. All Yurika wants is to be forgiven."

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Key:

-chan: Used at the end of a girls' name, and even amoung lovers.

-kun: used for boys. sign of endearment

-san: equivalent to Ms., Mrs, and Mr.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!


	3. An Unexpected Event

Chapter 3

Yurika took out two strawberry milk boxes. "Here." she said as she handed one to Ryuu. "Now you know why Yurika talks like this. All Yurika wants is to finally be forgiven by Hiro-kun. But since he's gone, Yurika will never know how Hiro-kun's doing." She stopped to take a sip of the slightly chilled milk. "But you were good friends, right?" Ryuu asked. "Yes. Why does Miyazaki-kun ask that when Yurika just told the story to him?" Yurika asked in reply. "It's just that, friends forgive friends." Ryuu said. "If he truly was your friend, he'd forgive you. Besides, trying to get your bracelet back was probably a sign of how strong of a bond you two had."

"You know, Yurika never thought of it that way." she said. "But Hiro-kun didn't have to do that. Yurika can never forgive herself for letting Hiro-kun leave that way." Tears were flowing from Yurika's face. "It was all Yurika's fault!" she said in-between sobs. Ryuu stood up and started to pat her back. "Hoshino-chan, it's okay." Ryuu said soothingly. Yurika just shook her head and said, "No it's not! It's all Yurika's fault! Hiro-kun didn't have to die like that!" Now, Yurika lost complete control. "Yurika will never forgive herself! Even if it means for Yurika to meet her end, then she won't hesitate!" Yurika then grabbed a nearby knife and held it to her wrist.

_SLAP!_

The knife fell to the ground. Yurika's face was red from Ryuu's slap. "Don't even think about throwing your life away!" Ryuu said with a harsh tone in his voice. "I might not know it yet, but there are people who care about you. When I saw the look on Momosé-chan's face when she saw you, I noticed she was happy. Your friend Hiro wouldn't want you to throw away your life because you can't forgive yourself!"

Yurika stared at him and said quietly, "Miyazaki-kun is right. Yurika is sorry for worrying him." Ryuu told her gently, "Just don't do anything drastic, okay? I just really met you, but I care about you." Yurika wiped her tears away. "Thank you Miyazaki-kun. Yurika will try her best not to do anything bad to herself. She'll also do her best to smile more often."

Ryuu took his milk and started to walk away from the stand. "I need to go for now, but I'll be back, okay?" he said. "Okay. Bye Miyazaki-kun! See you later!" Yurika waved as Ryuu walked back to Momosé's house. Ryuu was already a block away from Momosé's house when he heard, "Get out of the way!" Ryuu turned around and CRASH!

"I told you to move! Why didn't you listen?"

Ryuu stood up. "Sorry. But you kinda gave me a late warning." He looked to see the person who hit him with his bike. It was a girl with short auburn hair and light hazel eyes. "Did I hurt you really bad?" she asked. Ryuu shook his head. "I think I'll survive." he said. "Oh no!" The girl said. "I'm late for my delivery!" She picked up her bike and started to ride it up the hill. "I'll pay you back if I ever see you again!" she shouted as she rode away. "Isn't she going towards Momosé's house?" Ryuu asked himself. "Only one way to find out."

When Ryuu made it to the house, he saw that same bike parked outside. He went inside and took off his shoes. "Kuya-san! Sorry I'm late! I bumped into some-wha?" Ryuu was right. There she was. "Did you follow me here?" she asked. Ryuu shook his head. "No. In fact, I live here." he said. The girl cleared her throat. "My name is Kairi Tsukikaze. And you are?"

"Oh! My name is Ryuu Miyazaki. I started to live here yesterday."

"So that explains it." Then Kairi took out a piece of paper. "Then this note must be for you." Kairi gave Ryuu the note and he read it out loud,

"Hey Miyazaki-kun.

I wanted to let you know that Momosé is getting

out of school at noon today. Just don't forget. I'll be

home about an hour later.

From, Kuya."

"So…" Kairi said. "So what?" Ryuu asked. "How do you want me to pay you back? You know, from earlier." she said. Ryuu shook his head. "You don't have to pay me back." Kairi looked at her watch. "Oh crap! I'm late!" She got her shoes from the front and said, "I'll make it up to you sometime! See you later Miyazaki-kun!" The door closed behind her and Ryuu thought, _'What a strange girl.'_

_About three hours later…_

Ryuu stepped outside the house. "I guess it's time to pick up Momosé-chan." he said to himself. As he walked towards the school, he saw some students on the way back home. Ryuu waved to Yurika as he walked by her snack stand. _'Why does everything seem familiar about this town?' _Ryuu thought. _'Everyone seems so kind. Is it possible that SHE lives here at all?' _Just as Ryuu approached the 'meeting spot,' a black crow stumbled towards him. Just as Ryuu was about to say something, he heard a girl scream, "NO!"

In shock, Ryuu follows the echo from the scream. _'There's no way that it's…'_

Ryuu stopped running and what he saw made him feel like someone had just punched him in the stomach. Momosé had tears streaming down her face and was pinned to the wall with Satoshi's hands all over her. "C'mon," he said, "if you won't be my wife in the future, then I want to at least see what it's like to-"

"Hey Shirokawa! Get the hell away from her!" Ryuu ran over there and threw the first punch. Ryuu hit Satoshi so hard, he feel to the ground. "Momosé-chan, go to Yurika, now! Get away from here. I'll take care of him!" Ryuu directed. Momosé mouthed "Thank you." and ran as fast as her legs could go. Ryuu backed up slowly to see if Satoshi would get up so he could buy Momosé some time.

"You've got a lot of nerve to punch me like that." Satoshi said as he wiped his face. "I won't let you touch her like that ever again! You won't do anything as long as I'm here." Ryuu replied. Satoshi scoffed. "Who do you think you are? I know you're not romantically involved with her. Why do you protect her?" he asked. "That is none of your business." With that, Ryuu ran like hell away from the scene. '_That was easy. Too easy.'_ Ryuu thought. _' I hope she's there by now.' _

"Miyazaki-kun!"

It was Kairi on her bike. "I saw Momosé-chan run towards Yurika-chan's shop." Kairi stopped in front of him. "Yurika-chan told me to give you a ride. Get on." Ryuu did as told and got on the bike. Kairi peddled so fast, that they saw the snack stand in minutes. "Momosé-chan!" Ryuu yelled as they were feet away from where she was. Ryuu jumped off the bike as Kairi was still pedaling and ran to Momosé, who he noticed was stained in blood. "Momosé-chan! Where are you hurt? I'll get that punk locked away."

Momosé struggled to say 'Miyazaki-kun,' but she couldn't. Ryuu kneeled down to comfort her. Just as he was at the same level as her, Momosé held him against her and cried on his shoulder. "Shh. It'll be okay. You're fine. Yurika-chan is here and so is Kairi-chan. We're all here."

"Hey! What's going on!"

It was Kuya. "I thought you were going to be here later." Ryuu said as Kuya reached them. "Momosé! What's going on? Miyazaki-kun, what happened to her? What happened to my baby sister?" That's when Yurika said, "Yurika thinks it's best to take Momosé-chan home." Kairi went up to Kuya and said, "I can give her a ride if she needs it." Kuya shook his head and said, "It's okay. I can handle her now. But thanks for the offer." Kuya kneeled down with his back facing Momosé and said, "Here, I'll carry you back." Momosé shook her head and stood up. But as she stood up, Momosé's eyes closed and she fell backward.

"Momosé-chan!" Ryuu said as he caught her before she hit the ground.

"Ryuu take her back home. I'll go ahead to get her bed ready, got it?" Kuya asked. "Sure. Ryuu said. "Thank you all again." Kuya said as he went ahead.

"Here. Help me get her on my back." Ryuu asked the two girls. As she helped, Kairi said again, "I can taker her on my bike." "It's okay. I got her. But if I need anything, I'll run down here, okay?" Kairi nodded. "Don't be a stranger, Miyazaki-kun. You're always welcome here." Yurika said. "Thanks. You know, you guys can call me 'Ryuu-kun.' Like you said Yurika, 'don't be a stranger.' I'll see you guys tomorrow." And with that, Ryuu carried Momosé to the house with a million questions in his mind.


	4. Untied From Him

Chapter 4

By the time Ryuu arrived at the house with Momosé in his arms, Kuya had everything set up in her room. "Just set her down here." Kuya said. After Momosé was tucked in, Kuya and Ryuu went to the living room. As they sat down at the table, Kuya said, "I want you to tell me everything that happened to her." Ryuu sighed. "Well, I didn't see everything. But when I went to pick up Momosé, that Shirokawa guy. He pinned her to the school building with his body and he had his hands all over her. I asked if he did anything to her, but all Momosé did was shake her head, 'no.'"

Kuya pounded the table. "Damn it! That's it!" Kuya got up. "What do you plan on doing Kuya-san?" Ryuu asked. "What do you think? First, I'm calling the school to suspend him. Then, I'll call his parents." Kuya went to get the phone sitting on a dresser in the corner of the living room. "Hello? Watari-sensei, this is Kuya, Momosé's older brother. I'd like to report and act of sexual harassment. Yes. Okay, I'll be there shortly." Kuya hung up. "Miyazaki-kun, stay here. I don't want to risk Shirokawa trying to get in here somehow. Make sure that she eats later if I'm not back soon." With that, Kuya left the house.

Ryuu sighed loudly, unable to believe all of this happening before the sun even had a chance of setting. _'What did I get myself into?'_ Ryuu kept thinking. He didn't have to say. He could just move to the next town and leave everything up to everyone else. But he didn't want to leave for some reason. There was something about this place that made Ryuu want to stay.

Suddenly, Ryuu heard some rustling coming from Momosé's room. Ryuu then got up and knocked on her door. "Momosé-chan, are you okay? I'm coming in." To his surprise, there she was, folding small two by two papers into small cranes. She noticed him and stopped what she was doing.

"Better already?" he asked. Momosé nodded. Ryuu looked around Momosé's room and noticed a large box halfway filled with paper cranes. "So you have a wish in mind?" Momosé only smiled. Silence poured into the room, like the sunlight. "If you need something, don't hesitate to tell me."

_About six hours later…_

"Miyazaki-kun, I'm back."

"Kuya-san, what the hell happened?"

"Let's talk about it in the kitchen. Go and get the saké."

The two sat down, facing each other. Kuya took the bottle from Ryuu and opened it. "Get two glasses, will you?" Ryuu did as he was told and got two glasses from a cabinet. "So how did things go?" Ryuu asked as he sat back down. "What do you think?" Kuya poured the saké. "It took almost six hours of arguing to get it through his parents' thick skulls that he molested Momosé." Ryuu took his glass when Kuya passed it to him. "Is Momosé asleep yet?" Kuya asked. "Yeah. I don't blame her for being tired, though."

"I'm just glad that the punk won't be at that school anymore. Watari-sensei agreed to have him banned from school grounds. And I finally made it official that he doesn't and won't ever have any tie to Momosé."

Kuya took a sip. "The poor kid. She's gone through too much shit for her age." Kuya paused before he said, "I shouldn't be telling you this, but there's something about Momosé you should know." Kuya took a whole shot and poured himself another glass. "Well, I'm listening." Ryuu said.

"Well, she isn't really what people would call 'normal.'"

"What do you mean by that?"

"She has this sickness, or so the doctors say."

"What kind of sickness?"

"She can't stand loneliness. At all. Once she figures out that she's completely alone, she has something bigger than a fit."

Ryuu sat there quietly. "So you're saying that she just absolutely hates loneliness, period?" he mumbled.

"Exactly." Kuya said. "But that's not all." Kuya took a sip from his glass before continuing. "She also acts weird. There are times when she begs for things like a little kid, or she'll just space out completely. It's almost as if Momosé isn't here anymore, like she's in another world."

"But do you know why?"

"I have an idea, but it's not worth mentioning. But one thing I know for sure is that Momosé keeps a diary."

"A diary?"

"Yeah. She's hiding something from me."

"How do you know that?"

"I was cleaning her room one day, and I saw it. Just when I opened it, Momosé came into the room and snatched it from me."

"So what? Diaries are supposed to be for the owner's eyes only unless they give permission to someone else."

Kuya got up from the table. "I guess you're right." He then took his glass to the sink and the bottle to the fridge. "I'm going to sleep now. Too much happened in one day. Lock the door before you go to sleep, okay?"

"Sure."

* * *

Okay, I know that was short. Please forgive me. I being forced to study and its interfering(sp? oh well) with my creativity. But I hope whoever read this story continues to read it until the end. Bye for now!


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